_{^{The members of local band Eighth Ball, Carter McCall, left, Chris Wheeler, middle, and Gabe Pederson, right, stand in front of a car outside of 8-Track Studios in Garden Grove, California. Their debut EP, “Around The Table,” is in its final stages of production. (Jonathan Reyes)}}

By Sofia Hopkins

Sitting in a Garden Grove garage turned studio, the members of local band Eighth Ball put the finishing touches on their debut EP as they discuss their beginnings and witnessing changes in a music scene they’ve contributed to since 2023. 

Made up of vocalist Gabe Pederson, guitarist Carter McCall, bassist Chris Wheeler, drummer Roman Esteban Romero, and, occasionally, Rome Sutton on saxophone, Eighth Ball’s journey as a band has been an example of dedication and building a unique sound. 

The band’s history goes back to 2019, when Pederson and Romero began playing together. In the years to come, Pederson and his longtime friend Bradley Kay created the beginnings of a band that’s become a staple in the Orange County music scene. 

“Brad Kay was the original bassist, but then some shit went down and he couldn’t be in the band anymore. It was really difficult, it really threw me for a loop because Bradley and I had been talking about this ever since we were kids. We had always bonded through the music we listened to. We were like Beavis and Butt-Head, he was like my brother,” Pederson said. 

In 2023, Pederson was on the hunt for new members, which he eventually found through surfing at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

“I woke up one day and I was added to this groupchat by my homie Josh Tanzer, and I asked ‘Hey, out of all these guys, who plays music?’ and he goes, ‘That one and that one’ and it was Chris and Carter,” Pederson said.

McCall and Wheeler agreed to a jam session with Pederson, which didn’t take place until three weeks later. 

“I jammed out with Gabe and Roman first, it was sick. It almost wasn’t a tryout in a way, like once the music happened it was like ‘this is it.’ I called Chris all stoked out and Chris wanted to see what was up with this. From there, we decided that Chris would primarily play bass and I would play guitar,” McCall said. 

Eighth Ball played their first show on April 8, 2023 at the Cliffs parking lot in Huntington Beach, and has since been growing their audience through their distinct sound. 

^{_{The members of the band Eighth Ball, Chris Wheeler, left, Carter McCall, middle, and Gabe Pederson, right, sit in 8-Track Studios in Garden Grove, California, where they recorded their debut EP. The EP, “Around The Table,” is in its final stages of production. (Jonathan Reyes)}}

Despite having two years under their belt, the band has yet to release any music. 

Their debut EP “Around The Table” is set to release “very soon.” The EP will combine four genres within three songs. 

“We’ve been playing the same songs for two years now. It’s about time we get this EP out and we get the album out. I can’t wait to release the album and just take a deep breath and make a completely different setlist that no one has ever heard,” McCall said. 

Outside of playing shows, the band aspires to create their own all ages venue after facing struggles with venues in Orange County.

“When we started we were very privileged of having venues like FTG and OC Warehouse. I feel like it’s weird how it flipped around it’s become. The scene has grown and gotten a lot bigger since those places have been out of commission, but those were a hub for shows, with good sound, that were all ages and that’s something that’s really lacking in the scene right now,” McCall said. 

The music scene that Eighth Ball started out in has greatly changed over the years as venues have died out, and the ones that live on struggle to pay artists exactly what they’re worth. 

“The music industry is super dirty. There’s a lot of kids that don’t realize that their music has value, a physical, financial value to it. We take Eighth Ball pretty seriously,” McCall said. 

According to Wheeler, it can be hard to navigate whether to play a show for exposure or for money. 

“I genuinely couldn’t tell you a place that you can play a good venue that’s all-ages in OC that’s not a Ticket Master or Live Nation place. It’s sad and it’s something bands like us, we’ve all taken into mind that the scene will need something like this and we’re in the very small talks of kind of starting something like that of our own. It’d be more than just a venue, it’d be a hub of music,” McCall said. 

After facing those hardships, Eighth Ball began moving away from shows in Huntington Beach. 

“We started moving out of Huntington Beach and trying to get more down South and hit Mammoth and go on little tours, we definitely took a lot of time away from this local scene,” Pederson said. 

In that time, Eighth Ball played Spliffriff’s Lagadelic in Laguna Beach and No Guest List in Dana Point.

Their upcoming EP “Around The Table” has been a two year process, and although the release date is to be determined, the band says fans can expect it “very soon.”